DEATH 



PRESIDENT T AY LOR: 



DELIVER] ! 



AT THE MASONIC HALL, CINCINNATI. AUG. 1, 1850: 



BY T. H. STOCKTON. 



CINCINNATI: 
B E N F R A N K LIN P ETN T I N G OFFICE. 

1850.' 



I Q^K^S^^g^o^^^^g*,^.^^,^^^ 



A C A R 1/ . 

TO EDITORS, PREACHERS, AND OTHERS. 

The Author of the following Sermon desires to form a Collection 
of Sermons, Orations, Addresses, etc., on the Death of President 
Taylor. Editors and Speakers will confer a favor upon him, which 
he will endeavor in some appropriate way to acknowledge, if they will 
send him one copy, each, of their several publications. 

In 1841, a similar request was made, in relation to similar com- 
memorations of the death of President Harrison. About eighty dis- 
courses, many of them by eminent men, were then collected, and 
have been carefully preserved. 

T. H. STOCKTON. 

Cincinnati: Aug. 19: 1850. 



SERMON 



OCCASIONED BY THE DEATH 






PRESIDENT TAYLOR: 



DELIVERED 



AT THE MASOMIC HALL, CINCINNATI, AUG. 1, 1850 



BY T. H. STOCKTON. 



CINCINNATI: 



PRINTED AT THE BEN FRANKLIN PRINTING HOUSE 

1850. 



Lf-ZZ 



SERMON. 



It is not in heedless haste, but, with slow steps and 
thoughtful souls, that we come together this day, to speak 
and hear of the nation's new and unexpected bereavement — 
a bereavement which at first appeared almost as sudden in 
its irretrievable accomplishment as in its electric announce- 
ment. 

It seems but a little while, since I stood at the oblique 
corner of these same streets, on a wintry day, in the midst 
of a pressing multitude, waiting with two of my sons, for 
the coming of a grand civic and military pageant, which 
thousands of the elders of the city grew as eager as the 
children to see. Gradually, the indications of its approach 
multiplied, until, crossing the verge of the hill above us, it- 
came down toward us, in broad and brilliant display ; receiv- 
ing, as it came, the warmest welcome of countless heart- 
voices; and then, turning, composed its line before the 
building in which we are now assembled. Soon, a plain old 
man, alighting from one of the carriages, was ushered into 
this Hall ; and, after acknowledging the enthusiasm of his 
greeting here, made his appearance again, on the adjoining 
balustrade, to the masses outside; bowed to their renewed 
salutations, as they responded to the signals of our chief 
magistrate ; and then retired, apparently as humble in spir- 
it, as he was weary in body, to seek the repose which he 
would not accept until he had thus gratefully and gracefully 
met all the courtesies of the patriotic occasion. 



[4] 

Who whs that plain old man ? You all remember him — 
Z\« baby Taylor, President, elect, of the United States. 

Whence had he cornel He had come — from God. He 
had conic according to the will of God — from a life, ex- 
tended through more than sixty years of time, and over 
many thousand miles of space. He had come — from a 
Virginia cradle. He had come — from a Kentucky school. 
He had come — from the New Orleans pestilence. He had 
come — from the red sward of Tippecanoe. He had come — 
from the fiery ramparts of Fort Harrison. He had come — 
from Green Bay. He had come — from Fort Jessup. He 
had come — from Jefferson Barracks. He had come — from 
the Metropolitan Council. He had come — from the Black 
Hawk trail. He had come — from Fort Crawford. He had 
come — from the Florida Swamps. He had come from Fort 
Jessup, again. He had come — from Fort Gibson. He had 
come — from the Texan prairies. He had come — from the 
.Mexican hills. He had come — from his Louisiana home: 
the home where his fond wife waited and his fair daughter 
bloomed : the home where his war-worn age, infinitely pre- 
ferring peace to strife, had hoped to find its rest. He had 
come — with this hope disappointed : but kindly and honora- 
!,]\ go — by the highest request of the nation and the widest 
applause of the world. 

Did he remember, as he came, the gentle beauty which 
gathered about his childhood, in the Orange County of the 
"Old Dominion"? Rather — did he remember the wild 
woods, where, in his youth, he wondered at the roar of the 
-lona. as it swept, with shadowing clouds and showering 
bears, over - the Dark and Bloody Ground " ? Did he re- 
member the dinging of his spirit to the almost exhausted 
Qeshj when the yellow lingers of the Plague were trying to 
pari them? Did he remember the cold mold — the statue- 
like majest} and -race of the slain Tecumseh? Did he 
remember the block-hou in flames: the howlings of the 



[5] 

Indians without, the waitings of the women within, the fee- 
bleness of his struggling men, and the swellings of his own 
full heart through all that fearful night ? Or ; not to re- 
view the studies, and arts, and discipline, and occasional 
enterprizes, of his more quiet posts — did he remember 
Okee-Chobee? — and Gentry, and Thompson, and those who 
fell with them? Did he remember Palo Alto? — and Ring- 
gold, and Page, and those who fell with them ? Did he 
remember Resaca de la Palma ? — and Cochrane, and Chad- 
bourne, and those who fell with them ? Did he remember 
Monterey? — and Williams, and Woods, and Morris, and 
Watson, and Allen, and Hett, and those who fell with^them ? 
Did he remember Buena Vista ? — and Lincoln, and Hardin, 
and McKee, and Clay, and Yell, and Vaughan, and those 
who fell with them ? And — then — did he remember again 
his quiet home ? — his faithful wife — his lovely daughter — 
the endearments of an undisturbed seclusion, with no sound 
of wrath among its bowers and no sprinkling of blood on 
its blossoms ? Ah me ! no marvel the men of battle prefer 
the securities of peace ? 

But — whither -was he going'? He was going — to God. 
He was going, according to the will of God, toward the re- 
gion of his birth : with some sixteen months more of time, 
and a few hundred miles more of space, between that wel- 
coming and his death-bed. He was going — to the Metrop- 
olis of the Union. He was going — to the Capitol of the 
Union. He was going — to the Executive Mansion of the 
Union. He was going — to enter the portal, which the be- 
loved Harrison entered only to die. He was going to greet, 
and receive the greeting, of his innnediate and respected 
predecessor ; whose terms of office and life were both about 
to expire. He was" going — to meet the smiles, to consult 
the wishes, and to merit the confidence, of the leaders of 
the party, of which, however moderate his sentiments, 
generous his sympathies, and na .onal his purposes, he was 



[6] 

regarded, nevertheless, as, in some sense, the triumphant 
representative. He was going — to take his stand at the 
front of the Eastern Portico of the Capitol ; and there, — 
surrounded by the chief officers of all departments of our 
own Government, and by the Embassadors of all Foreign 
Powers, and with twenty thousand citizens, in behalf of 
twenty millions, of all parties, and from all quarters of the 
land, assembled on the broad plateau before him — to renew 
the assurance of his devotion to " the welfare of the whole 
country ;" to take the oath of fidelity to the Constitution ; 
and to be assured, in turn, by the most decisive tokens, of 
universal reliance on his honor and word. He was going — 
to collect his Cabinet around him, and superintend their 
action : to accept and return the customary acknowledg- 
ments of the Diplomatic Corps: to throw open the White 
House, in cheerful hospitality to the social gatherings of 
the People : to make an effort to see a portion of them in 
their own northern and eastern homes: to come back, an 
invalid, with sad monitions of increasing frailty: to enter. 
in due time, upon more efficient intercourse with Congress: 
to submit his honest views, and well-considered plans — and 
then let them rest : in a word, he was going to assume his 
appointed position — the most elevated political station on 
earth — and exemplify in it the power of the principle which 
had governed him in previous relations : to endeavor to do 
his duty, and so await the will of the Maker and Ruler of 
all. That will was then unknown. It has since been ac- 
complished. On the Nation's Birth-Day ; in the Nation's 
City ; at the Nation's Monument : in the midst of the 
Nation's Representatives, celebrating the virtues of the 
Nation's greatest Military and Civil Exemplar — u first in 
war, first in peace, and lirst in the hearts of his country- 
men " : on that day, the day on which Jefferson, and Ad- 
ams, and Monroe, made their memorable transits: on that 
day, while everything around was so brilliant, and danger so 



m 

little apprehended, the worthy successor of Washington, 
standing conspicuous by the rising shaft of Washington's 
fame, was distinguished by the eye and touched by the 
hand of an Unseen Messenger, whose bidding none may 
stay. Thence returned to the shadowy retreat where Har- 
rison breathed his last, the submissive veteran patientlj" 
declined, until, after a few days more — " I am ready for the 
summons,'' said he : " I have endeavored to do my duty. 
I am sorry to leave my friends " — and then departed. 

Thus, the plain old man; the illustrious warrior; the 
elect supreme civilian ; came and went. The places which 
knew him once shall know him no more, forever. There is 
no renewal of life. The gardens of Virginia : the forests 
of Kentucky : the fields of Indiana : the shores of Wis- 
consin : the wilds of Iowa : the frontier posts in the south- 
ern and western wilderness : the morasses of Florida : the 
plains of Texas : the mountains of Mexico : the plantations 
of Louisiana : the thoroughfares of Cincinnati : the avenues 
of Washington ; the Porticos of the Capitol : the saloons 
of the Presidential Mansion: these and whatever other 
places have known him, may hold his memory still, but 
nothing more. Or, if any thing more, and this is yet un- 
certain, it is only that his coffined body may silently pass 
our landing — where, as though but yesterday, his eyes 
flashed among his friends, and his tongue aptly replied to 
their kindness, in the earnestness of the spirit which then 
retained its possession. I say, — his bod?/ may pass our 
landing : ah me ! how tenderly and strongly the allusion 
suggests and excites the love of home ! 

Our Metropolis is not the Home of our Presidents. It is 
merely a brief, official stopping-place. If one of them die 
in retirement, his remains are not taken to the Capital : and 
if he die at the Capital, they are directly borne from it. 
What an impressive scene, of melancholy magnificence, 
might be witnessed, if the remains of Washington were re- 



[8 ] 

moved to the scite of the National Monument ; and those 
of Adams, and Jefferson, and Madison, and Monroe, and 
the second Adams, and Jackson, and Harrison, and Polk, 
and Taylor, were duly disposed around, with corresponding 
memorials ! | j But, the dust of Washington, moistened with 
the tears ' of La Fayette, reposes in the shade of Mount 
Vernon. The elder and younger Adams, slumber, side by 
side, at Quincy. Jefferson is entombed at Monticello : 
Madison, at Montpelier : Monroe, at Oak Hill : Jackson, at 
the Hermitage : Harrison, at North Bend : Polk, at Nash- 
ville : and so, unless the home be changed, I presume it 
will be added— Taylor, at Baton Rouge. I do not regret 
this tendency. There is little danger of its becoming too 
strong among our migratory people. Rather, there is some 
danger of its being too much weakened. I love to see the 
home and the tomb, not far apart. The virtues of the dead, 
if not their spirits, haunt the tomb : and often come in from 
it, to hallow the halls of home. Death, too, seems less 
dreary to the living, when they contemplate it only as an 
evening's retirement under the same roof that shelters their 
kindred. "May you die among your kindred" — is the 
friendly wish of the Arab. And our highest-minded states- 
men, and stoutest-hearted heroes, unite with the humblest 
in the land, in the softness of the sentiment — may we be 
buried among our kindred ! Even though it be the victor 
in many battles : the comrade of thousands whose bones are 
strewn along our borders, or scattered among the hills and 
by the streams of foreign lands : the laurelled favorite, con- 
ducted, as the reward of his conquests, from the tent of the 
wilderness to the throne of civilization : so strong is the 
love of home in the soul, that, when he comes to die, he 
turns from the Chair of State, as he often turned before 
from the v;uii;iue-grounds of war, and asks, for his last 
earthly refuge, not the lone vault of the proud metropolitan 
mausoleum, but, infinitely rather, the social turf and whis- 



[ »] 

pering shades of the place of household graves. So may 
it continue : until every State in the Union shall be honored 
with the tomb of an Exemplary President : until Maine 
and Florida, Minesota and Texas, Oregon and California — 
like Massachusetts and Virginia ; like Ohio, Tennessee, and 
Louisiana ; shall lead their children and quests to the rural 
sepulchres of those, who, having gone up from humble 
homes of truth, purity and love, to adorn the loftiest seat of 
authority in our incomparable and indissoluble Republic ; 
shall have descended again, with their blessings on the 
Union, and the blessings of the Union on them, con- 
firming the Union by the very distribution of their 
dust, as well as by the memory of their glorious exam- 
ple. How much more worthy this, than that the time 
should ever come for the tombs of the Adamses to be in one 
Confederacy, and those of Washington, Jefferson, Madison, 
and Monroe, in another : the tomb of Harrison, in one ; 
and those of Jackson, Polk, and Taylor in another. Who 
is this — that would first divide the graves of our fathers, 
and then stain them with the blood of our children ? Let 
the silent awe be eternal — rather than break it by the name 
of such a traitor ! 

But, there are some who are never satisfied, even when 
all is well. It seems impossible for them to understand our 
Savior's lesson — " When ye shall have done all those things 
which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable ser- 
vants : we have done that which was our duty to do." It 
is not enough for them, that a public servant shall desire 
to do his duty ; and endeavor to do his duty ; and, even 
upon his death-bed, have the comfort of remembering, that, 
however unprofitable he may have been, still, to a good de- 
gree, he has done his duty ; and, therefore, relying on the 
mercy of God in Christ Jesus, is ready for the summons to 
meet his Judge : it is not enough, I say, for them, that the 
President shall have thus filled up the measure of his days, 
2 



[10] 

ill all faithfulness to his convictions ; and bequeathed to his 
family and country a name that will be cherished as long 
as a drop of his blood shall flow in human veins, or his 
country shall hold a place among the nations of the earth : 
but, beyond all this, they appear to wish that the destinies 
of the Union, of the States, and of the People, shall be 
made dependent on him ! — and almost demand that it shall 
be universally acknowledged they are dependent on him ! 
Nominated — their cry is : He is able to save us ! Elected 
— their cry is : He will save us ! Installed— their cry is : 
He has saved us ! Deceased — their lamentation is : Alas ! 
Our Savior is dead ! The country is ruined ! 

What better is this, than was the Jewish idolatry, which, 
in the chapters before us, the prophet so sternly denounces, 
so pathetically deplores ! Nay, this is idolatry : and worse 
than that of old. It is committed, if not in grosser forms, 
yet in greater light, and in presence of more numerous and 
impressive warnings. On all accounts, it is far more inex- 
cusable. 

If ever there was a nation on earth that needed the ad- 
monition of the text : ever a nation, that ought to give 
heed to it : it is our own. " Cease ye from man, whose breath 
is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be accounted off 

We should " cease— from man." True — no country has 
ever produced, within a similar interval, a nobler succession 
of men, than our own has exhibited. Every period of our 
progress, every change of our condition, and every depart- 
ment of our government, have been illustrated by model 
characters. Does the world need models ? Then our his- 
tory n|»|»lies the need. Model Colonists ? We have had 
them. Model Revolutionists 1 We have had them. Model 
Constitutionists ? We have had them. Model Legislators? 
We have had them. Model Jurists? We have had them. 
Model Administrators? We have bid them. Need I be 
more particular '-' What then ? Look at the various forms 



[11 ] 

of public service. Model Practical Planners and Operators ? 
We have had them. Model Document Writers ? We have 
had them. Model Debaters and Orators ? We have had 
them. Model Field-Commanders? We have had them. 
Model Naval Commanders ? We have had them. Model 
Embassadors to Foreign Courts? We have had them. 
Model Negotiators of Special Treaties? We have had 
them. Model Secretaries and Councillors ? We have had 
them. Model Presidents ? We have had them. If, there- 
fore, any people could be at all excusable for trusting in 
man, we might be excused. 

But there can be no excuse for such idolatry. " Thus 
saith the Lord ; Cursed be the man that trusteih in man, 
and maJccth flesh his arm, and ivhose heart departeth from 
the .Lord." 

There are many reasons for this. The honor of God : 
the absolute necessity of His superintendence and support : 
the origin of all model characters, in His providence, and 
for the accomplishment of His purposes : the perfect ease 
with which He can, and does, withhold, furnish, and with- 
draw them : the connexion of the national destiny with the 
more general scheme of His government, and, therefore, its 
constant determination by His own will : these and similar 
considerations are all to be remembered. But the text 
specifies one reason, as of itself sufficiently impressive ; and, 
in view of that alone, challenges a return to duty. 

" Cease ye from man, ivhose breath is in his nostrils.'''' 
That is the select reason : and it deserves our selectest 
regard. 

It is not because of the positive, constitutional, littleness 
and worthlessness of man, that we are commanded to cease 
to trust in him ; and pronounced accursed, if we do trust in 
him. The man is more than the nation — let who will af- 
firm to the contrary. The destinies of the man are more 
enduring than those of the nation ; and involve infinitely 



[ 12] 

nobler interests. Especially, when I see a Model Man : a 
model in mind, heart, and life ; a model, at home ; a model, 
in the Church : a model, in the State ; a model of honora- 
ble and extended usefulness, seeming to lay his country and 
the world under peculiar obligations to him, by the great- 
ness of his services as a patriot and philanthropist, in peace 
or war, in the ordinary flow of public affairs or in the accu- 
mulated anxieties of some extraordinary and eventful crisis : 
God forbid, that when I see such a man, a man made in 
the image of God ; a man elected by the Providence and 
anointed by the Spirit of God ; a man consecrate to the 
work of God ; and exercising in its accomplishment, in an 
infinitely inferior degree indeed but still in truth and reality, 
the very attributes of God : God forbid that I should dis- 
honor both the Creator and the creature, the Redeemer and 
the redeemed, by representing this Immortal Spiritual Sub- 
limity — this Best Visible Reflex, this Living Daguerreotype, 
of Divinity — as a mere material ephemeron, a heathenish 
phantom of nothingness, in comparison with the State — 
and, therefore, unworthy to regard himself, or to be re- 
garded by others, as of any importance, when the interests 
of the State are in suspense. Rather, let the maxim pre- 
vail : If either must fall, let it be the State, and not the 
Man — for the Man is more than the State. If the Man 
fall, and the State flourish — the loss is infinitely greater 
than the gain. If the State foil, and the Man stand fast — 
the gain is infinitely greater than the loss. When the 
State shall be forgotten, the Man will be wearing the first 

honors of eternity. 

No — no — this is not the way to elevate the State — by 
degrading man. Let the man understand what it is that 
constitutes his manhood, and let him hold it sacred — sacred, 
even from the touch of the State. 

No — no — this is not the reason why we are prohibited 
from trust in man — because in himself he is nothing : for 



E 13 ] 

he is said to be made "but little lower than God." The 
reason pertains to his condition — not to his constitution : 
to his estate — not to his destiny. His " breath is in his 
nostrils." That is the reason. As an agent of God, he 
may deserve the trust of the nation. His genius, his learn- 
ing, his wisdom, his skill, his courage, his honor, his pa- 
tience, Ms perseverance, his justice, his benevolence, his 
universal sympathy, and uniform kindness, and disinter- 
ested devotion to the public welfare — these, and all other 
traits of truth, and goodness, and influence, may qualify 
him peculiarly, admirably, perfectly, for the direction of 
social progress : he may sit at the head of affairs, in the 
image of God ; and, subordinately, in the office of God ; 
and, moreover, sustained by the sanction and blessing of 
God. Still., in one sense, he is unfit to be trusted : and it 
will prove a curse to trust him. What sense is that ? The 
sense of his nothingness ? Not at all. God has already 
marked him for higher spheres and more responsible duties. 
Cease ye from him — for his breath is in his nostrils. He 
is connected with his body — connected with his home — 
connected with the State — connected with the world — 
merely by a breath ! If he could breathe on, he might be 
trusted on. If he could breathe forever, he might be trusted 
forever. If he could breathe forever, he might grow more 
and more worthy to be trusted forever. But this may not 
be. His spirit is imperishable : but his body must be dis- 
solved. " Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of 
man, in whom there is no help. His breath goeth forth, he 
returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts 
perish." Whatever he may have contemplated, in relation 
to the exercise of his visible ministry here — eeases with his 
breath. Therefore the exhortation : " Whatsoever thy hand 
findeth to do, do it with thy might ; for there is no work, 
nor device, nor knoivlcdge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither 
thou goest." The breath gone — so far as earthly things 



[14] 

are concerned, all is gone. The developed and accomplished 
excellencies of the longest and noblest life, adapted to the 
greatest wants of the mightiest empire, are, — not, indeed, 
extinguished, but — withdrawn : forever, withdrawn. 

How many, even of those who have come within our own 
observation, have thus passed away ! The comparatively 
few opportunities, of former years, have left me some re- 
sources, on which, were there time, I might more largely 
draw. 

I think of the Army : and the stout, round form of 
Macomb ; and the tall, stately figure of Gaines — rise be- 
fore me. 

I think of the House of Representatives : and the 
gigantic port of the unfortunate Blair, slain by his own bind; 
the pale lace of Bouldin, stricken down in excited debate, 
and dying in the Speaker's Chamber, surrounded by trem- 
bling friends and hopeless physicians ; the black coffin of 
Dennis, reposing in the aisle which his feet had so often 
carelessly trod ; the mild countenance of Graves, the avowed 
victim of a murderous social sentiment ; the erect and lofty 
stature of the cool and thoughtful Speight ; the becoming 
sedateness of Muhlenberg, previously a preacher of the 
Gospel; the bland and winning smile of the courteous and 
poetic Wild ; the huge proportions of the gentle and judi- 
cious Lewis ; and the earnest, active air of your own Lytle — 
all return to my vision. 

I think of the Senate : and I seem to sec again the good 
and able Southard ; the artless, and sweet-spoken Leigh ; 
the prudent and discriminating Wright ; the venerable and 
classical Robins ; the shrewd and resolute Poindexter ; 
(he polished and generous Goldsborough ; the pleasant and 
vigorous Grundy ; the prompt and graceful Forsyth; the 
ardent and eloquent Ilayne ; the quiet, but intelligent Nor- 
vell ; the easy and social Lynn; the patriarchal and affable 
White ; your own honest Morris ; and the pure, philosophic, 



[15 ] 

dignified, and steadfast Calhoun — with the exception of one 
distinction, the Model Senator: seemingly as much the 
Vice President upon the floor as in the Chair : the Watch- 
man of the Chamber : the Sentinel of the South : whose 
character is as much admired as his position was lamented. 

I think of the Supreme Court : and lo ! the peerless 
Marshall is again upon the bench ; and the accomplished 
Story, at his side ; and Wirt at the bar, with his heart 
chastened by Christian love, his mind a-giow with mellowed 
splendor, and his voice thrilling with the inspirations of 
genius. 

I think of the White House : and Adams, and Jackson, 
and Harrison, and Polk, and Taylor — five Presidents, fa- 
miliar to the world and memorable forever — glide through 
its halls, and vanish from the scene. 

We have ceased from trusting in these — all these — and 
many more like them. But why so ? Because they were 
untrustworthy ? I speak generally — Not so : but merely 
because they were bound to us by a breath. The breath 
parted — and the men were gone. 

" Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils ; for 
ivhcrein is he to he accounted of? " Wherein is he worthy 
of reliance, who, however godlike in attributes, may be 
withdrawn from you by the suspension of a breath ? Surely 
your national destiny depends not on him. 

When Washington was sixty-seven years old, he laid 
down upon his death-bed. " I find I am dying" — said he : 
" my breath cannot last long." And again — " Doctor, I die 
hard, but I am not afraid to go ; I believed, from my first 
attack, I should not survive it ; my breath cannot last long? 1 
And so he ceased to breathe. 

More than a quarter of a century elapsed, before a similar 
scene was witnessed. Then, on the same day, the first 
Jubilee of the Nation, Adams, at ninety years of age ; and 
Jefferson, at eighty-three ; came down to their last hour. 



[ 16 ] 

" I resign myself to my God" — said Jefferson : " and my 
child to my country." Soon after, Adams exclaimed : " In- 
dependence forever ! " — and all was over. They, too, had 
ceased to breathe. 

Five years after this, at seventy-one years of age — 
Monroe ceased to breathe. 

Five years after this, at eighty-five years of age — Mad- 
ison ceased to breathe. 

Nearly five years after this, at sixty-eight years of age, 
Harrison remarked — " Sir, I wish you to understand the 
true principles of the Government, I wish them carried 
out. I ask nothing more." And he ceased to breathe. 

Four years after this, at seventy-eight years of age, 
Jackson observed, in substance, — " My sufferings, though 
great, are nothing in comparison with those of my dying 
Savior : through whose death I look for everlasting happi- 
ness.'' And he ceased to breathe. 

In less than three years after this, at eighty years of 
age, the second Adams declared — " This is the last of earth. 
I am content." And he ceased to breathe. 

In a little more than one year after this, at fifty-three 
years of age — Polk bowed his head in baptism, confessing 
his Savior. And he ceased to breathe. 

And now, within the last month, at sixty-five years of 
age, the lamented Taylor has submitted to the common 
decree : — " I am ready for the summons/' said he. "I have 
endeavored to do my duty. I am sorry to leave my 
friends.'' And he, too, ceased to breath c. 

What then? Are these our gods? "Cease ye from 
man, whose breath is in his nostrils ; for wherein is he to be 
accounted oj'V Good, and wise, and mighty as he may 
be: admirably qualified for the maintenance and promotion 
of all public interests, as he may be : respected, beloved, 
and venerated, by the whole people, as he may be : compli- 
mented and applauded, by the whole world, as he may be : 



[17 ] 

infinitely removed from all occasion of imputing insignifi- 
cance to him, as he may be : just in the fulness and com- 
pleteness of his all-commanding energies, as he may be : 
s till — there is "no help" in him — "his breath goeth forth, 
he returneth to his earth ; in that very day his thoughts 
perish." If the destiny of the nation were dependent on 
him, it would be dependent on a breath. 

Two former occupants of the Presidential chair yet 
survive. Does the destiny of the nation depend on them ? 
Their breath is in their nostrils. 

A new occupant — apparently a most worthy one, the 
subject of innumerable commendations and compliments — 
now holds it. Does the destiny of the nation depend on 
him ? His breath is in his nostrils. 

Of the Senators, Representatives, and other leaders of 
the people, in years gone by, many of the most distinguished 
and useful, yet live, in retirement. Among those whom I 
have seen and heard in their high places; I remember, 
particularly, — Choate, and Frelinghuysen, and Buchanan, 
and Dallas, and Wilkins, and Naudain, and Chambers, and 
Rives, and Wise, and Preston, and McDuffie, and Walker, 
and Johnson, and Storer, and Allen. Some of these are 
just in the fulness and perfection of their faculties. Often, 
they have instructed the country by their wisdom ; and 
charmed it by their eloquence. Hereafter, they may excel 
all that they have accomplished heretofore. But, does the 
destiny of the nation depend on them ? Their breath is in 
their nostrils. 

Survey the various Departments, as they are supplied at 
this moment. Think of Taney, McLean, Woodbury, and 
their associates, in the Supreme Court. Think of Critten- 
den, as Attorney General : of Warrington, at the head of 
the Navy : of Scott, at the head of the Army : of Corwin, 
at the head of the Treasury : and of Webster, at the head 
of Foreign Relations. Think of Chandler and Disney, and 



[ 18 J 

Giddings, and Hampton, and Mann, and Billiard, and Stan- 
ley, and their hundreds of compeers, in the House. Re- 
enter the Senate. Among the new members, as Clemens 
and Cooper, Chase and Davis, Hale and Foote — how many 
of the old and mighty still retain their position. Not only 
Bell, and Berrien, and the northern Davis, and Ewing, and 
others : but is not Cass as vigilant and considerate as ever ? 
and Benton, as industrious and determined as ever? and 
Clay as constructive and conciliating; as sonorous, impass- 
ioned, and spirit-stirring as ever ? But is the destiny of 
the nation dependent on them? Their breath is in their 
nostrils. 

Cease ye from them. Let them, let all, whether in office, 
or out of office, imitate the example of the sagacious and 
honest-hearted Magistrate, whose death we this day deplore. 
That is — let them endeavor to do their duty: we ask nothing 
more. "Our help is in the name of the Lord, who made 
heaven and earth" 

The calls of duty involve sacrifices enough : and leave 
our manhood untouched. Rather, every compliance with 
them elevates and confirms our manhood. The man per- 
fected — he is prepared for any sacrifice, except of the prin- 
ciples which make him a man. Do the interests of his 
country require the laying down of his lile, in the discharge 
of his duty ? He welcomes this issue. He knows that his 
breath must go forth; and regards the good of the nation 
as an abundant recompense for anticipating the usual time 
of dissolution, by yielding to a power, which, though it may 
so far destroy, cannot dishonor. " Did you ever doubt of 
the success of the conflict?" said one to John Adams — 
referring to the Revolution. "No, no" — the patriot re- 
plied — "not for a moment, / expected to be hung and 
quartered, if I was caught; but no matter for that — my 
country would /><■ free; 1 knew George the Third could qoI 
forge chains long enough and strong enough to reach around 



1 1!1 ] 

these United States/" Duty sweetens death: but even 
life is bitter to the transgressor, and the remembrance of 
him is his country's sorrow. 

Washington entered upon the presidency of thirteen 
States, with less than four millions of people. During his 
administration, Vermont, Kentucky, and Tennessee were 
admitted into the Union. When his breath went forth — 
was the progress of the country arrested ? 

Adams presided over sixteen States, and rive millions 
of people. When his breath went forth — was the nation 
stayed ? 

Jefferson presided over sixteen States, and some seven 
millions of people. When his breath went forth — did the 
Union decline ? 

Madison presided over seventeen States, and some nine 
millions of people. When his breath went forth — did the 
land decay ? 

Monroe presided over twenty-two States, and more than 
ten millions of people. When his breath went forth — did 
the Republic languish ? 

Adams, again, presided over twenty-two States, and 
twelve millions of people. When his breath went forth — 
was the confederacy impaired ? 

Jackson presided over twenty-four States, and sixteen 
millions of people. When his breath went forth — was our 
prosperity checked ? 

Harrison presided over twenty-four States, and more 
than seventeen millions of people. When his breath went 
forth — was the advance cut off? 

Polk presided over thirty States, and nearly twenty 
millions of people. When his breath went forth — was the 
increase exhausted ? 

Taylor succeeded, in prospect of new States, and an en- 
larged population. And now, that his breath has gone 
forth — shall the grand development close ? 



[ 20 ] 

Nay — verily : " For the Lord is our Judge, the Lord is 
our Law-Giver, the Lord is our King ; He will save us!" 

Let it not be forgotten that only two of our Presidents 
have died in office. Some returned to their farms, and 
died there : one, descended, as some would improperly say, 
to the place of a member of Congress : one, disdained not 
to fill the office of a justice of the peace. So quietly they 
passed away from national control : and so magnificently, 
without a moment's interruption, the march of Providence 
extended onward. 

Methinks I see Columbus, at ten of the clock, on the 
night of the eleventh of October, 1492, watching, from the 
prow of his vessel, — with an Angel at his side. Suddenly, 
the Angel directs the eye of the almost baffled mariner to 
a hopeful light. 

That was the first glimpse of the new world. There was 
no reflection, from hill or shore : from rock, tree, or stream. 
There was no outline of a habitation, no motion of a person, 
visible. It was a mere gleam, in an immensity of gloom : 
leaving all other objects to conjecture. 

That was the commencement of our destiny : and how 
little it depended on human foresight ! The poets — Mont- 
gomery, Rogers, and Southey; Milton, Ercilla, and Camo- 
ens — have anticipated, in various ways, the magnificent after 
disclosures. But Columbus thought only of India. The 
discovery of the New Continent was as much a surprise to 
him, as to others. 

Methinks I see that same Angel, on this first day of 
August, 1850, standing in the Sun: surrounded by an il- 
lustrious -roup of Witnesses — some of them seemingly anx- 
ious to hide the stains of blood on their garments, but all 
with vivid memory and honest testimony of the times gone 
by. Chief among them is Columbus himself — hardly yet 
forgetful thai he earned to his coffin the chains wherewith 
he was rewarded for giving boundless and ceaseless liberty 



[ 21 ] 

to the commerce of the world. The Angel, with hands ex- 
tended toward the scene below, addresses him thus: — "For 
this, by Divine appointment, I led thee across the deep !" 
And the honored one replies : — " I thrill, with grateful rap- 
ture ; like thine own. Like thee, I look, as the light looks, 
on all the expanse — from Greenland and Alaska, to Cape 
Horn. I see the two oceans — always white on all their 
coasts with the freshening surf; and now whitening, in 
nearly equal lines, with the canvass of all nations. I see 
the western mountains — ranging through all climes, blazing 
among the ice-bergs of the poles and glittering with per- 
petual snow above the heats of the equator. I see the 
eastern hills — warming their flowery slopes in the open 
noon, and waving their windy woods over shadowy summits 
of easy access. I see, between, the plateaus and prairies, 
the lakes and rivers, unequalled on all the globe beside. I 
see the cliffs and glens, the placers and beds; of copper 
and lead, of iron and coal, of gold and silver, and every 
mineral hoard. -I see the shores of pearls; and the inland 
heights of diamonds, sapphires, and rabies. I see the suc- 
cessive circles of grass and moss ; of birch and fir ; of pine 
and cedar ; of oak, beech, and chesnut ; of the vine and fig; 
of the palm and magnolia ; of the orange, olive, and lime. 
I see the sweeping margins of rye, barley, and wheat ; of 
rice and cotton ; of sugar and coffee ; and the almost limit- 
less maize. I see the immigrant nations — settled, spread- 
ing, coming : and the tribes of old still fleeing and falling 
before them. I see the march of improvement — as though 
the forests, were prostrated by whirlwinds : as though the 
clouds, were condensed into cities : as though the sunshine, 
were transmuted into harvests. I see the Old World pay- 
ing homage to the New : its hoary tyrannies, indeed, stand- 
ing aloof ; trying to content themselves with dwindling pos- 
sessions, soon to be abandoned : but its arts and sciences, 
its literatures and philosophies, and the masses of its peo- 



[22 ] 

pie, charmed by the voice of freedom, and hopeful of im- 
provement by goodness, genius, and truth — all hastening 
over. Before they touch the strand, the lightning reports 
them in the distant wilderness : and the mountains stoop 
and the valleys rise to smooth their rapid transit. I see 
the symbols of the Russian State, and the Greek Church, 
in the cold North West. I see the symbols of the British 
State, and the English Church, in the cold North East. I 
see the symbols of the Great Republic, adorning all the 
borders of its matchless central and southern empire — as- 
serting, from sea to sea, the will of the people in the State, 
the will of the people in the Church, and the Will of God 
over all. I see, in the islands below, the symbols of the 
Danish State, and the Lutheran Church : and of the French 
combination of all policies, civil and ecclesiastical. I see, 
in one of those isles, the symbols of African rule. I see, on 
the southern shore of the Gulf, the symbols of the Dutch 
State, and the Calvinian Church. Apart from these, over 
all the West, and away to the farthest South, I see the 
symbols of the independent or allied representatives of 
Spain and Portugal, and of the Roman Church. In all di- 
rections, I see the scattered symbols of remaining Barbar- 
ism and Heathenism. Even Chinese Patriarchism and 
Boodhism touch the golden plains of the Pacific. The Eu- 
ropean, the African, the Asiatic, the Polynesian, and the 
American, are all one, on the same soil. More than fifty 
millions of people move within the range of my vision : 
and si ill the blooming wastes are waiting to welcome hun- 
dreds of millions more. I think of the future : and again 
iny soul glows like thine. I think of the revolution of 
the Old World by the New— the revolution of its States, 
the revolutioD of its Churches: a revolution, complete and 
enduring — glorifying God and dignifying man: a revolu- 
tion, wrought by the reaction of all races on all their 
fatherlands— the agency of the redeemed in the univer- 



[ 23 ] 

sal extension of redemption. The contemplation over- 
powers me. I return to my own connexion with the com- 
mencement of these wonders. I acknowledge my unwor- 
thiness in the sight of God. And yet I rejoice in the 
course He set me, and the guide He gave me. Never, to 
all eternity, can I forget that twinkling light in the dis- 
tance — the sudden glory in my soul. Never can I forget 
the morning beauty of yon little isle — my own San Salva- 
dor. Never can I forget, how other and nobler groups soon 
rose to view. But — six years elapsed before I saw Terra 
Firma ; and even then I dreamed not what it was. Rather, 
as I had mistaken the isles for those of India or Japan — so 
I mistook the Continent for Paradise. My breath was in 
my nostrils : I had not time to learn more or do more. But, 
here are the other agents of Providence. Let them declare, 
how, point by point, this glorious scope was thus enlarged 
and defined." 

Columbus ceases : and others proceed. And so it ap- 
pears, that a year before Columbus saw the main land, the 
Cabots had sailed down all the northern coast from New- 
foundland to Florida — that Americus, at most, was only the 
third to visit the shores which bear his name — that Pinzon 
openened the sixteenth century with the discovery of the 
Amazon — that Cabral, the same year, and only eight years 
after Columbus had made his first discovery, was turned 
from his course, toward the Cape of Good Hope, and borne 
to the beach of Brazil ; as if to show that what was accom- 
plished by Columbus might easily have been gained without 
him — that, seven years later, Aubert entered the St. Law- 
rence' — that six years later, Balboa saw the Southern Ocean — 
that, three years later, De Solis found the Rio de Plata — 
that, four years later, Magellan passed through his Straits, 
and swept out upon the Pacific — that, one year later, Cortes 
invaded Mexico — that, one year later, Bermudez met his 
gentle cluster— that, four years later, Pizarro ravaged 



[ 24] 

Peru — that, ten years later, Almagro opened Chili — that, 
two years later, Cortes, again, discovered California, but not 
its wealth — that, two years later, De Soto, though disap- 
appointed in his search for mountains of gold and fountains 
of youth, made his way to the nobler and richer Missis- 
sippi — that, two years later, Orellana descended from the 
heights of Peru to the level of the Atlantic, by the winding 
channels of the mighty Maranon — that, one year later. 
Cabrillo discovered Cape Mendocino — that, thirty-four years 
later, Frobisher ventured to his icy strait — that, two years 
later, Drake beheld Cape Horn, and named New Albion — 
and that, seven years later, Davis sailed into the strait which 
bears his name. Next succeeds, in like order, the story of 
the seventeenth century : Newport — and Virginia : Smith — 
and Chesapeak Bay : Hudson — his River, Straits, and Bay : 
Champlain — and his Lake : Smith again — and the mapping 
of New England : Baffin — and his Bay : D ermer — and Long- 
Island Sound: and then, — a hundred and twenty-eight 
years after Columbus first crossed the deep !— Carver, and 
the Pilgrim Fathers— on Plymouth Rock ! Then, Williams, 
and Marquette, and Penn, and Hennepin, and Sale — con- 
tinued the course, by wood and stream. Next succeeds — 
the eighteenth century: Beering, and Hearne, and Cook, 
and Vancouver, and others — remembered the less, it may 
be, for the grandeur of the Revolution, and the glory of 
Washington. Lewis opens the nineteenth century: and 
others add their various lines of toil— leaving wide regions 
even yet unexplored. So, turning all toward the higher 
and brighter sphere whence the sun derives its lustre — the} 
worship llim who keeps "the times" and "the seasons in 
His own power:" and humbly acknowledge that the des- 
tinies "I" persons and cations, <»l* planets and systems, — 
infinitely too precious to be committed to any mere 
being of a breath— are exclusively dependent on His Di- 
vinr control 



[25 ] 

Cease we then " from man, whose breath is in his nostrils: 
for wherein is he to be accounted of? " 

Our Continent requires half the sky, to cover it : both 
oceans, to water it : and both poles, to bound it. The same 
amplitude of firmament which shelters our own Country 
alone — and which, I trust, may be regarded as the symbol 
of the perpetuity as well as the beauty of our Union — 
overhangs, in Europe, fifty separate States, always jarring, 
often warring, and stained with the blood of centuries of 
civil and ecclesiastical misrule. Many of those States 
might be buried in our Lakes, without leaving a ripple to 
betray the deposit : and all their inhabitants might find 
homes in our unoccupied territories — and yet leave room 
for more. Placed, as we are, in the true center of the 
world : with Europe and Africa on one side, and Asia and 
Austral-Asia on the other : with the true Religion, encum- 
bered and enfeebled by all kinds of False Authority, and 
assailed by all forms of Infidelity, on one side ; and all 
mariner of False Religions, rioting in pollution and crime, 
on the other : and with Civil Tyranny and Savage Cruelty, 
on both sides : — possessing, as we do, Civil and Religious 
Liberty, in greater truth, power, and glory, than any other 
people: — elevated, as we manifestly are, to an eminence 
open to universal observation, on purpose, that, improving 
our privileges and perfecting our advantages, we may ex- 
hibit to the oppressed of all climes the ennobling vision of 
Private Judgment in the State, and Private Judgment in 
the Church, enlightened by the Bible, sanctified by the 
Spirit, and incorruptibly loyal to the Lord Jesus Christ — 
dignifying humanity and glorifying Divinity in modes and 
to degrees never witnessed before : — who can believe, for a 
moment, that the Great Guardian of our destiny in the past 
will ever commit it in the future to hands less competent 
than His own ? 

Already, He has conducted it to developments vastly 
4 






[ 26 ] 

transcending the most sanguine hopes of our fathers. Sixty 
years ago, our Government declared, that it would not be 
" our interest to cross the Mississippi for ages;" 1 and "never 
be our interest to remain connected with those who do." 
To-day, it is our interest, both to cross and re-cross, in con- 
stant interchange, not only the Mississippi, but, the Rocky 
Mountains also. Oregon, California, and New Mexico, are 
at home in Washington : attending quietly to their own 
affairs, with Maine and Florida, in the Common Capitol. 
What is the South-East Passage ? What is the South- 
West Passage ? What is the North- West Passage ? Be- 
fore the ship now frozen among the ice-bergs shall escape, 
or go to pieces, the Canal of the Isthmus may open its 
locks on both coasts ; and the Rail-Road of the Prairies 
display its mid-way trains, passing with the manufactures 
of England and New England on one track, and the pro- 
ducts of China and India on the other. " Ages," indeed ! 
" Never-connected," indeed ! Why, nearly forty years ago, 
a State was admitted into the Union, west of the Missis- 
sippi. The highway of the world is here : and the brother- 
hood of nations will pass over it in peace. How often must 
" He that sitteth in the heavens" smile at the boasted wis- 
dom of man ! " Happy is that people whose God is the 
Lord !" Let us cherish this happiness. Let us cease from 
our iellow, to cleave to our Maker. Let us exchange reli- 
ance on a breath, for assured repose in Eternal Omnipo- 
tence. Let us endeavor to do our duty. Let us demand of 
our rulers nothing more or less than that they endeavor to 
dn their duty. Then — let our destiny rest with God. "For 
the Lord is our Judge ; the Lord is our Law-giver ; the 
Lord is our King : He will save us." 






